Who are they?
Really? You have to ask? Dethklok is only the most popular musical force on the planet. An extreme metal band that’s more famous than Michael Jackson and The Beatles combined, Dethklok’s record sales and overall marketability constitute the world’s seventh largest economy. They have played concerts on top of volcanoes and while flying though the stratosphere on a jet-powered stage, and their latest album was recorded to the purest of analog formats: water.

Of course, this is only the case in the cartoon universe of Metalocalypse, the television brainchild of Berklee School of Music–trained shredder/animator Brendon Small and Ali G/Conan O’Brien writer Tommy Blacha, chronicling the hilarious, bloody and — as frontman Nathan Explosion would say — brutal antics of Dethklok.



Why are we talking about a cartoon band? Gorillaz was so turn-of-the-century.
In the US, Metalocalypse is one of the venerable Adult Swim stable’s highest-rated shows, and the toon’s fanatical following has spilled over to the real-life Dethklok via two actual albums (Dethalbum I and II) and live-action tours. The latter is handled by Small — who writes and performs all the music on the show, as well as playing guitar and providing guttural vocals live — and his very capable band, who are currently on the road with metal’s other biggest band, Mastodon. Small says the bill is a good matchup that will fill seats when times are tough, even though Dethklok is technically a pretend band.

“We did a whole tour before and we packed a lot of houses because we have something a lot of other bands don’t have, and that’s a TV show,” he says on the line from Chicago.
 

Going on tour with real metal bands must make for good material.
Considering that many of the characters on Metalocalypse are modelled after actual metal musicians — hulking singer Nathan Explosion takes his cues from Cannibal Corpse growler George “Corpsegrinder” Fisher, while has-been sleaze-rockers Snakes N’ Barrels resemble certain users of illusions — more exposure to the real deal can only be a good thing. “I pick up a lot of things, and it’s fun to watch how bands behave towards each other. [And touring is] definitely its own world; its own universe,” says Small. “I know I say the show is about celebrityism that gets to be about metal, but when you boil it down, it’s about a family trying to live together. You know, you’ve got a mother and a father and a little sister; that’s the way these bands are. And a band has always kind of been that way, where you’re forced into living like a family but not bound by what a family is, which is love. [Their bond] is more circumstance, which in itself is kind of a tumultuous place.”


There are probably a lot of “this amp goes to 11” moments as well…?
While much of the humour on Metalocalypse comes from watching infantile personalities trying to run a billion-dollar metal empire, it’s the tech talk where Small and his writers' jokes are most refined. Dethklok’s (fictional) big-budget production excesses and ludicrous song inspirations, as well as stunts in the recording studio — like forcing the guitarist to skydive in order to eliminate amp buzz — definitely play to the faction of their audience with specialized musical knowledge. “That’s the kind of stuff that I know the network doesn’t really care for because they’re always afraid that we’re going to go over people’s heads,” Small admits. “But that’s the stuff where I’m, like, ‘No, we have to do it, because the people that get those jokes are going to be with us for life.’” The fact that such a discerning crowd is also into the music says as much about Small’s taste in metal as it does about his particular brand of humour.


At least the real crowds don’t have to sign “pain waivers.”
Dethklok’s cartoon audiences often die en masse in truly horrific and absurdly graphic scenarios, a curious hazard of fandom which adds to Small’s commentary about mindless celebrity worship. The show’s violence, as any member of the cartoon Dethklok would tell you, is fucking brutal. But since it’s also an inherent part of your more extreme metal genres (death metal, black metal, thrash), Small says, “We don’t really censor ourselves. As long as it’s creative and good and fun and aids in telling the story, it’s OK. Other-wise, it’s just anarchy, and I think that’s the beginning of diminishing returns.”